


The Angle Doesn't Lie

by Madam_Chauncey



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Jealous Sora, Riku sees more than he's meant to, Sokai, Spoilers for KH3, feelings are complicated, slight timeskip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-11-18 02:38:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18111551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madam_Chauncey/pseuds/Madam_Chauncey
Summary: Sora wants to make up for all the distance he's put between Kairi and himself lately. Turns out she has very specific terms for forgiveness.





	The Angle Doesn't Lie

**Author's Note:**

> Someone must need to read this, because it is so not the story I had been planning, yet here it is. Again, spoiler warning if you haven't completed KH3 and aren't privy to the secret ending. This isn't usually my style, but I hope you all enjoy and let me know what you think.

Kairi sat at a small table at Uncle Scrooge's popular Twilight Town restaurant, waiting. She was supposed to meet Sora. He was "taking care of some things" at the Old Mansion with Riku and informed her over text message on the gummiphone that he would be running a "few minutes" late.

That had been approximately forty-five minutes ago.

The server at The Grand Bistrot handed her the steaming cup of earl grey she had ordered out of guilt a few minutes ago. She had heard so much about Little Chef's tarte aux fruit from Sora and he'd finally agreed to go with her to try some. She felt bad about sitting and taking up valuable seating space for so long without ordering anything while she waited, so she decided on tea.

Merlin spoke highly of it, and she had gleaned an affinity for the stuff while she and Axel trained under him in their enchanted wood where time stood still.

The waiter was dressed nicely and appeared to be about her age. He looked at her with sympathetic, green eyes. He'd been witness to her entire forty-five-minute embarrassment.

"I'm sure he'll be here very soon. I understand if you need the table, though." she told him quickly, reading his expression well enough to know what he was thinking.

"It's not about the table, Miss." He measured his words carefully. "It's just… excuse me saying so, but this guy seems like a jerk for keeping a girl like you waiting all this time."

Her throat caught a bit. Sora was many things, but jerk had never occurred to her as one of them. Not in the way the waiter meant, anyway. Everyone loved Sora; he was a ball of positive energy and kindness. Sure, he had an underlying somberness after everything he had to endure to save her—everything they had to endure to save  _him_ , but who wouldn't?

"He's not a jerk," she defended him quickly, but kindly. "He's just terrible at keeping track of time."

The blonde waiter made no further argument but leaned in closer to her so he could speak more quietly while she could still be able to hear him. He braced his hands on the table as he spoke softly to her.

"Look, I leave in about another fifteen minutes, if you want, we could—"

Suddenly another hand whipped into her frame of vision, pushing the waiter's arm off the table and away from her.

"Back away; she doesn't know you like that."

She jumped in surprise to see Sora had finally arrived, his normally cheery blue eyes sporting a dark edge.

The server looked taken aback at first, until understanding blazed across his expression

"Oh, decide to finally show up? She's been here nearly an hour waiting for you and you have the nerve to barge in and tell me _I'm_  out of line?" came the curt reply. Luckily, the restaurant was bustling and noisy, so the exchange was going mostly unnoticed to everyone except those involved.

She'd hate to see the forward but well-meaning boy lose his job over her if anyone over his head caught wind in the case things escalated. She began to feel pangs of panic zip up her spine.

"Look, I don't wanna pick a fight, but you need to back off. She doesn't—" Sora began, squaring his shoulders to face the other male, but Kairi placed her hand over his on the table. His white-knuckled fist loosened immediately at her touch. He looked at her, his navy blue matching her cerulean, and relented.

The waiter looked at him expectantly, waiting on him to finish the threat. When he realized Sora wasn't, he let out a breath, his professionalism returning suddenly. Maybe he realized he was still at his job.

Sora scratched the back of his head as he took his seat across from Kairi, deflating considerably. "Look, I'm sorry, man. I'm just tired, I guess. I was wrong. Shouldn't have blown up like that."

The blonde exhaled heavily. "No, I was out of line. I just see a lot of pretty girls stood up here and I always feel like I need say something to make them feel better. Guess I picked the wrong one to muster up some courage with. How about I take your order and we call it square?"

Sora smiled his trademark grin.

"Deal." He agreed, then proceeded to order the pastry that she had been anticipating all afternoon. Her nerves had zapped her appetite, however, and she remained quiet throughout the rest of the exchange after she was certain it was calmed. She was idly tracing the rim of her still-full tea cup when Sora turned to her after the waiter had walked away.

"Kairi, I'm so sorry. Finding and packing all those scraps of notes and equipment from the Old Mansion took Riku and I longer than I thought."

She swallowed, remaining silent as she looked at a particularly fascinating tablecloth fiber.

"Kairi…?" he prompted her again after her silence persisted.

She looked up, finally, a speck of anger bubbling forward. "Riku called and told me the both of you finished half an hour ago. He said he tried to get you to leave but you said you still had things to take care of and stayed behind."

Sora broke eye contact, suddenly looking the picture of guilt. "I—"

"—If you didn't want to come here with me, why offer? I would have left you alone and let you find your own amusement, Sora. You don't have to lie. I thought we had a better friendship than that."

"We do, Kairi," he insisted vehemently, "It didn't have anything to do with not wanting to be with you, I promise."

"—And the thing with that waiter, what was that?" she ignored him, not in the mood to argue about the state of their friendship. "You looked like you wanted to hit him, and for what? Speaking to me?"

Sora sat back in his chair. "He looked a little too cozy."

"It wasn't your call to make. I'm more than capable of defending myself. You've been overprotective since you got back. I don't like that side of you, Sora."

"I  _lost_  you, Kairi. I know you were scared, but I was terrified." He whispered heatedly to her.

"I lost you, too, Sora. But you don't get to hover over me and push me away at the same time."

Sora a year ago would never have approached someone with such aggression, but Sora after Shibuya wasn't as predictable.

He carded a hand through his spiky chestnut locks. "I don't want to fight, Kairi. I'm sorry about everything, okay? Please forgive me?"

"Not until you tell me why you do your best to avoid me every chance you get when it's just the two of us."

Sora opened his mouth to reply, but the blonde server from before had returned with two slices of the tarte and sat it between them, his gaze lingering on the tense scene before him. If he wanted to comment, he didn't.

Sora murmured a "thank you" before the other male turned on his heels and left as a silence stretched between them.

Wordlessly, the keyblade hero pushed the plate toward her.

As much as she wanted to let the dessert sit there untouched to spite him, it smelled simply delicious. The fresh slices of various fruit glistened on top of Little Chef's creation, and she figured if she was going to wait on Sora for an hour, she should at least get  _something_  out of it, even if it was just a yummy dessert.

Kairi picked up her fork and cut off a modest piece.

That first bite was incredible. The moment she began to chew, the fresh apples and strawberries burst in her mouth, washing her palate in both sweet and tart flavors.

"Good?"

She swallowed her bite, nodding. "It's delicious."

Sora gave her a small smile, and a tiny sliver of her anger dissipated in the wake of it. It was extremely hard for her to stay mad at him.

She continued to eat, and even though he had insisted that she finish her piece, he had yet to touch his. They settled into another silence, the low hum of conversation among the many tables around them providing background noise.

" _You require motivation_ ," he said finally after another moment.

Kairi looked up from her tarte, her brows knitting together in confusion. "W-what?"

Sora leaned in closer to her. "That's what Xehanort said right before he… did what he did to you. He needed one more heart for the x-blade, and he used you because he knew it would hurt me the most. You went through what you did because I was careless and couldn't keep my promise."

"Sora," she began. "We've been through this. I  _wanted_  to fight. You don't get to blame yourself because I screwed up and got captured."

"Just like you don't get to blame yourself for me getting caught up in The Reaper's Game?"

Kairi swallowed a lump. "We've spent enough time debating this the last couple months, Sora."

He nodded in agreement. "I know. You asked why I've been avoiding spending time with you, and I guess it's because I feel guilty. When it's us and Riku or the others it's easier, but when it's just you and me… I dunno. I felt that the less I was around you, the less danger you would be in and I could try and put the memory of you getting destroyed out of my head. And seeing that guy earlier, I'm not sure what came over me. I just didn't like him being that close to you."

The princess of heart exhaled shakily after his confession. "That's stupid, Sora."

"I know," he murmured.

"You hurt me."

Now his voice was shaky. "I know."

"I thought that after we shared the paopu and the talk we had on the beach, you'd know better than to think I cared about the risk."

Sora squared his jaw. "But _I_  cared. Don't you get it? What's best for you will always be more important than what I want."

"And having me think you don't want to be around me is what's best for me?" she countered.

She knew his heart was in the right place, but Kairi hated that Sora was making his own mind up about what she needed. Didn't she have a say?

"I messed up, I know. And I'm sorry." He gripped his pant leg at the knee. "Truth be told, I had debated asking Riku to come in my place, but he refused. Said that if I hurt you one more time, he'd break my legs himself."

Sora paused a moment, and Kairi giggled imagining the conversation. She had gotten angry at Sora for blowing up at the server, but, truth be told, both of her boys were overprotective.

"I wanted to be here," he continued, "but then I got to thinking that distance would make you less of a target in the future. Then I realized, ya know, I was really looking forward to this."

Kairi hummed. "I'll forgive you on one condition."

"Name it."

She motioned to his untouched dessert. "I want you to eat your tarte, then I want a walk around Twilight Town and we put all this behind us. I want honesty; whenever you're having doubts, I want to be the first to know."

He smiled her favorite smile, the one that made his eyes shine and her chest feel like it was filled with hot coals. "Done."

* * *

 

They had been passing by the stalls near Pence, Olette, and Hayner's Usual Spot when Sora perked up suddenly, dragging her off to the train station.

"You're gonna love this spot." Was all he said as he hurriedly bought their tickets and herded her into their compartment.

The short ride there was uneventful. Kairi tried to get Sora to tell her where he was taking her, but he refused.

"It's a surprise." Was all he would say.

Upon arrival, they disembarked.

"Welcome to Sunset Station." He announced.

She looked around. Like the rest of Twilight, it always looked to be on the cusp of sunset, even though it was still pretty early evening. The people bustled around the station, conversing, laughing, and getting on and off the trains.

"It's wonderful," she commented. "Thanks for bringing me, Sora."

She was happy that he wanted to spend time with her. It seemed foolish to think otherwise knowing Sora, despite the fact that he had been acting so wishy-washy since Shibuya, but she had anyway.

Things between them had changed, and yet they hadn't. She spent a lot of time crying for him in the time he had been away, and a lot of time thinking about what he meant to her—what she might mean to him. It had been a flurry of conflicting emotions, fluctuating between happy, sad, and everything in-between.

The one bright spot in all of it had been how she and Riku reconnected by leaning on each other in the wake of the loss while they all brainstormed what they were going to do to bring Sora home. He really had been her rock, and she was glad something good came out of something painful—she only hoped she had been the bright spot for him, too.

"Isn't it?" Sora finally agreed. "But this isn't what I wanted to show you. C'mon."

He led her through town, past different buildings and shops until they came to the spiraling walkway that led to an outcrop that sat high above Sunset Terrace. Guiding her from behind, Sora made the long walk with her to the summit.

The view that awaited them was spectacular.

The sunset was nice, as expected, but nothing groundbreaking, especially for a town that stayed bathed in beautiful burnt orange. The real treat was how you could see the entire town from up there.

Kairi breathed in, the fragrance of the flowers sweet and floral in her nose, the sound of the rushing train beneath them.

"This is almost as good as our spot at home, huh?" he commented, eyes glued to the horizon.

She took his hand, ushering them closer to the overlook. "Mm. Almost."

The both of them sat on the edge, hands still interlocked. It made Kairi think of the brief time they had together after he brought her back as they had sat on the trunk of the paopu tree right before he disappeared, hand in hand.

The pain of the memory hit her harder than she anticipated, and she unconsciously squeezed his hand tighter.

He looked over at her like he understood what she was feeling without having to be told. "Hey, it's okay. I'm not going anywhere."

She smiled at him through eyes that were beginning to water. "You better not."

They went back to admiring the scenery in silence when Sora jerked suddenly, using his free hand to dive into his pocket.

"Oh! I have a great idea!"

Sora fished out his gummiphone and released her hand as he excitedly dialed a number. It rang twice before Riku's face adorned the screen.

He moved closer to her so they could both be in the frame.

"Hey, Sora. Hey Kai. What's up?"

"Riiikuuuu!" her companion gushed. "Guess where we're at?"

Riku thought a moment, looking around at the scenery he could make out behind them. "Looks like you took Kairi to Sunset Hill."

Sora nodded. "Yeah I made it to dessert after all, so that means I get to keep my legs."

"I'll let Namine know. She volunteered to hold you down while I break them if need be."

Kairi couldn't stifle a giggle. Sora didn't look amused.

"You've turned Namine against me?!"

Riku shook his head. "Didn't have to. Anyone could see that you were being a jerk. Plus, don't you think girls talk?"

Sora's jerked to look at her, the look of betrayal plain, but Kairi looked away, feigning being aloof to the whole situation.

"Well, Olette's mom insisted I have dinner with them and it's ready. Told her you guys would still be out for a little while longer. Don't stay out too late and be rude to our host." the eldest joked over the video call. "I'll talk to you guys later."

Kairi, realizing she hadn't really spoken, turned the frame towards herself. "Bye Riku! See you in a bit!"

"Bye Kai, bye Sora."

Sora said his own farewell then sat the phone down beside him on the grassy outcrop after the conversation ended.

Kairi nudged him with her arm. "Thank you for bringing me here; it's been really nice."

"It's been nice seeing you happy again. I'm sorry for how I was acting before. Avoiding you was wrong, making you wait was even worse. Still didn't stop me from being jealous of that guy, though. I know it makes no sense. Maybe you wanted to talk to talk to him; I shouldn't have interfered."

Kairi's pulse thrummed at the admission. "It's okay. He was being a little forward for my tastes anyway. There was nothing to be jealous of."

Sora smirked. "Yeah, maybe. He didn't get to be up here with you, so I already know he missed out."

There was his megawatt grin again. She felt heat rise into her cheeks.

She slapped his arm playfully. "The things you say sometimes."

This is how it had been for the most part after he got back—in the moments he actually showed up. It was this strange amalgamation of friendship fettered with something different swirling in the air between them.

He would say something totally innocent, totally  _Sora_ , and her heart would start drumming inside her chest.

Before Kairi could rein her emotions back in, she had already leaned in towards him, sealing their lips together in a feather light kiss.

Sora's arms nearly buckled from where they were bracing himself upright.

But he didn't pull away. The gesture reached its natural end after a couple seconds and Kairi retreated.

Sora blinked, shocked. "Kairi…"

"Wow, that took long enough. Looked kinda strange from this angle though, I have to say."

The tension immediately broke as a third voice spoke up.

They both jumped from their cozy spot so close together as they scrambled to find the source of the interruption.

Kairi would know that teasing tone anywhere.

Sora, realization dawning on him in horror, connected the dots and grappled for his gummiphone from its spot beside them on the ground.

"Riku! Why are you still on the videocall?!"

Their silver-haired friend laughed. "You're the dummy who forgot to hang up."

"Why didn't  _you_  hang up?!"

Kairi desperately wanted the ground to swallow her up. Not only had she just  _kissed_  Sora, Riku had been witness to it all.

Riku shrugged. "Well, I was going to, then I realized you didn't know you hadn't hung up, so I was just going to see how long it took you to wise up. Didn't expect to see  _that_ , but it'll make as good a story as anything."

Dread filled Kairi and she quickly wrested the phone from Sora. "Riku, if you say one word to anyone, I'll never speak to you again."

Riku laughed. "I'm kidding, of course. I would never, princess."

Sora took back command of the phone. "Bye, Riku." He ground out.

"Yeah, I imagine you two have a lot to talk about."

Sora growled at the ribbing and the sound of Riku's hearty laughter was all that could be heard before Sora promptly hung up and jammed his phone back in his pocket.

Kairi had never seen the brunette so frustrated. His jaw was clenched, entire body wound tighter than a bowstring. Cleary she'd made a wrong decision.

"I'm sorry, Sora."

He turned to her. "For what?"

She turned to look at the ground. "Please don't make me say it."

Sora cocked his head to the side and Kairi felt tears threatening to well up behind her eyes. Of all the ways she could have hurt their friendship, this was the worst possible one.

"Kairi."

The soft way he spoke her name made her look up. He gently brushed the fledgling tear away with his thumb, giving her a smile, pushing a stray strand of her shoulder length red hair to the side in the process.

"I've been wanting to know what that was like. Better than I imagined, honestly."

Kairi's jaw dropped in disbelief. How could he be so flippant, no, _teasing_ about all of this?

But upon seeing his total lack of shame about the whole thing (aside from Riku seeing it from the gummiphone), she couldn't help the teary laugh that bubbled from her throat. "You're the worst, Sora."

Sora hummed in thought. "You know, the first thing he's gonna do is tell Namine."

"Yeah, she's got him wrapped around her finger."

"Right? Like he has any room to tease anyone…" he sighed, "Well, what do you want to tell her?"

Kairi chewed her bottom lip in thought. "I'm not sure. Don't know what to tell _you_ right now, to be honest."

This time it was Sora's turn to squirm as his aura completely shifted. "Kai, I'm so sorry. I thought you—I didn't mean to—"

She found his hand again and gave it a comforting squeeze. It was funny; she had been on the verge of panic just a moment ago, and now she was the calm one.

"Trust me, Sora, if I was upset, I would tell you. You didn't do anything wrong. I'm just… surprised, that's all."

The hero of light let out a relieved breath, tranquility settling over him once more. "Ohh. Good, cause I feel like I could run laps around the Clock Tower right about now. Whatever you want is what I want. If you're happy, I'm happy."

"Then how about we play it by ear?" she suggested.

"Deal," he agreed. "Of course, I just want it known that I very much wouldn't mind another kiss if the opportunity—Oww!"

Kairi smacked his arm again, embarrassment and elation flooding her veins, making her face hot.

But she couldn't say she disagreed.


End file.
